Eradicating HIV with Ciclopirox and Deferiprone
This is my third blog on HIV. Before we see this new research about HIV, let us checkout little bit more about HIV.
What is HIV (AIDS)?
AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease caused by a virus called HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The illness alters the immune system, making people much more vulnerable to infections and diseases. This susceptibility worsens as the disease progresses.
HIV is found in the body fluids of an infected person (semen and vaginal fluids, blood and breast milk). The virus is passed from one person to another through blood-to-blood and sexual contact. In addition, infected pregnant women can pass HIV to their babies during pregnancy, delivering the baby during childbirth, and through breast feeding.
HIV can be transmitted in many ways, such as vaginal, oral sex, anal sex, blood transfusion, and contaminated hypodermic needles. Both the virus and the disease are often referred to together as HIV/AIDS. People with HIV have what is called HIV infection. As a result, some will then develop AIDS. The development of numerous opportunistic infections in an AIDS patient can ultimately lead to death.
According to research, the origins of HIV date back to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century in west-central Africa. AIDS and its cause, HIV, were first identified and recognized in the early 1980s. There is currently no cure for HIV/AIDS. Treatments can slow the course of the disease - some infected people can live a long and relatively healthy life.
What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?
HIV is the virus which attacks the T-cells in the immune system.
AIDS is the syndrome which appears in advanced stages of HIV infection.
HIV is a virus.
AIDS is a medical condition.
HIV infection causes AIDS to develop. However, it is possible to be infected with HIV without developing AIDS. Without treatment, the HIV infection is allowed to progress and eventually it will develop into AIDS in the vast majority of cases.
HIV testing can identify infection in the early stages. This allows the patient to use prophylactic (preventive) drugs which will slow the rate at which the virus replicates, delaying the onset of AIDS. AIDS patients still have the HIV virus and are still infectious. Someone with AIDS can pass HIV to someone else.
Signs and symptoms of early HIV infection
Many people with HIV have no symptoms for several years. Others may develop symptoms similar to flu, usually two to six weeks after catching the virus. The symptoms can last up to four weeks.
Symptoms of early HIV infection may include:
fever
chills
joint pain
muscle ache
sore throat
sweats (particularly at night)
enlarged glands
a red rash
tiredness
weakness
weight loss
New Research.....
New research by an international team finds that Ciclopirox, an antifungal cream used all over the world, completely eradicates HIV - the virus that leads to AIDS - in cultured cells, and the virus does not return when the treatment stops. The study also found Deferiprone, a systemic drug used to remove excess iron from the body in people who have beta-thalassaemia major, has the same effect. The researchers, including a team from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, write about their findings in a paper published online this week in the journal PLOS ONE.
As both drugs are already approved for use in humans - both in the US and Europe - the researchers say this means the normally lengthy process of drug development should be less costly and time-consuming, bringing closer the prospect of global elimination of HIV and AIDS.
Drugs reactivate suicide pathway in HIV-infected cells
Viruses thrive by invading cells and using their resources. The cells of our body have a natural way of stopping this - they kill themselves. When the immune system detects the presence of a virus, it triggers a cell process called apoptosis that makes infected cells commit suicide. But the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has a way around this: it disables the host cell's ability to commit suicide, allowing it to continue to exploit cellular resources to fuel its growth and spread. In this new study, the researchers found the drugs work against HIV in two ways: they inhibit expression of certain HIV genes, and they also jam up the host cell's mitochondria, the little powerhouses that supply them with energy. Both these effects reactivate the cell's suicide pathway. Healthy cells not infected with HIV were not affected. And remarkably, the virus did not bounce back when treatment stopped.
First study to show additional route to cell suicide
While previous research has already found Ciclopirox and Deferiprone can stop HIV by inhibiting some of the virus' genes, this new study is the first to show an additional route to reactivation of cell suicide via mitochondrial interference. Thanks to these previous results confirmed in this new study, and the fact the systemic drug is already known to be safe in humans, testing the effectiveness of Deferiprone against HIV has already moved directly from cell culture to human trial in South Africa, bypassing the need for animal testing. Ciclopirox is not approved for systemic use, as it is a topical cream. But the discovery that both drugs, each well-tolerated in humans, are also able to eradicate HIV in cell culture renews hope that HIV and AIDS will one day, in the not too distant future, be wiped from the face of the Earth.
The findings follow other good news released this week - as world leaders meet at the United Nations General Assembly to review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, UNAIDS reports a 52% reduction in new HIV infections among children and a combined 33% reduction among adults and children since 2001.
(Source- Journal PLOS ONE)
